D.C. jazz authority Ira Sabin dies at 90

During World War II, when Washington was booming and many musicians were in the military, young Ira Sabin launched what became a lifetime gig in jazz. He had his first professional jobs as a drummer when he was 15, led groups in clubs and concert halls for nearly 20 years, became a promoter and record-store owner and in 1970 founded the publication that became JazzTimes magazine, one of the most successful and influential journals of its kind.

Sabin died Sept. 12 at an assisted living facility in Rockville, Md., at age 90. He had cancer, said a son, Glenn Sabin.

Ira Sabin earned his musicians’ union card at 16 and quickly found himself working three jobs a day in nightclubs, concert halls and society gatherings, “gaining a lifetime of professional experience in a few short years,” he later wrote in JazzTimes.

He performed in some of Washington’s first integrated jazz groups and sometimes entertained at private parties at the Georgetown home of Sen. John F. Kennedy, D-Mass., before he became president. By the late 1950s, Sabin was producing concerts and other performances, featuring such acclaimed musicians as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Oscar Peterson.

In 1962, he bought out a brother-in-law who had a record store, renaming it Sabin’s Discount Records. The store was in the heart of Washington’s thriving jazz district, within walking distance of two theaters and six jazz clubs. The shop carried one of the country’s largest collections of jazz recordings, and musicians often stopped by to shop and chat.

Sabin began to publish a four-page newsletter for his customers, highlighting new record albums and upcoming performances at jazz venues. Soon enough, disc jockeys around the country were sending him playlists, and record labels were taking out twopage advertisements.

In 1970, he dubbed his newsletter Radio Free Jazz, in an effort to promote jazz to radio programmers. Published on rough newsprint paper, Radio Free Jazz grew from four pages to 12 to 28. The first paid subscriber was the renowned bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.

In 1980 Sabin renamed his publication JazzTimes. It retained a newspaper format until 1990, when Sabin’s son Glenn took over as publisher and converted JazzTimes to a glossy monthly magazine.

Ira Sabin was born Aug. 10, 1928, in Brooklyn and moved with his family to Washington in 1939.

Survivors include his wife of 67 years, the former Irma Leish of Silver Spring; three children, Marla Sabin and Jeffrey Sabin, both of North Potomac, Md., and Glenn Sabin of Silver Spring; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.